


Escape It All

by kkeithkatt



Series: Sheith Month 2018 [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Drinking, M/M, Sheith Month 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-07
Updated: 2018-07-07
Packaged: 2019-06-06 19:26:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15201782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kkeithkatt/pseuds/kkeithkatt
Summary: Keith and Shiro share a drink after a cold day outside.





	Escape It All

Shiro watches from his place by the trees as Lance and Pidge pummel Hunk, Allura, and Coran with snowballs. They’re on the planet Isazva, a planet full of snow and ice and these dainty looking flowers made entirely of crystal.

They’ve taken a break from fighting the Galra, having found themselves within this galaxy during a moment of quiet. They know they probably should have traveled to another sector but they have no current leads except for the tip they’re waiting on from one of Coran’s old contacts.

So, Allura had deemed it a good time for a break and when Lance had found this planet on the map, there was no turning back.

They were miles away from earth, had seen so little shadows of their own planet scattered throughout the universe, that to find a planet with snow, of all things . . . . There were no words. Even Keith, who despised the cold, had smiled at the idea of seeing it again.

Speaking of Keith, Shiro flicked his eyes towards the castleship where one figure stood, bundled in layers they had bought before arriving here. Lips upturned, he made his way over, dodging a snowball sent his way as he did so.

Keith barely looked at him as he approached and Shiro had to hold back a snort at his attire. While the others wore a coat and gloves, Keith was bundled in a jacket, an outer coat, Lance’s scarf, gloves, and a beanie. His nose twitched at him as if he could feel his amusement but it only made him chuckle as he could barely see it above the blue scarf’s lining.

His words came out mumbled behind it. “It’s cold.”

Smiling fondly, he wrapped an arm around his shoulders. Keith snuggled deeper into his side. “It’s not that bad.”

Keith growled low in his throat, reminding Shiro more of an annoyed cat than anything. “Yes it  _ is _ , Takashi.”

He squeezed Keith’s shoulder. “It is a little chilly.” He amended. Honestly though he was fine in his black jacket and gloves. There was no need for the several layers Keith had on.

“Might I remind you I lived my whole life in the desert?” He grumbled testily. Shiro hummed. That was fair.

“It gets cold there at night though.”

“It doesn’t snow!” 

“Not in your part anyway. I’ll have you know it’s not that uncommon t-”

“Shiro.” He laughed and even better so did Keith, shoving even further into his side.

Shiro moved his hand lower, wrapping it around his waist instead. Keith hummed and settled his head on his shoulder. He nosed his way into his hair. It was so soft.

“Fuck snow.” Keith cursed grumpily after a bout of silence in which they watched the others move from a snowball fight to making a snowman and snow angels. Shiro had to admit, Coran’s was probably the most accurate. “I hate it.”

“I know baby.” He squeezed his hip. “Want to go inside and make hot cocoa?”

He instantly perked up, head lifting to gaze hopefully up at him. “Yes! Can we?”

Chuckling, he nodded and grabbed his hand, pulling them inside. Thankfully, they were literally right next to the door so it wasn’t that much of a walk to the kitchen.

Setting one of the pot’s on the thing Hunk called a stove, he began to warm the milk they had. Water would have been faster, something they could have heated in the microwave, but Keith hated the taste of it like that so he settled in for the slightly longer haul. He went ahead and pulled out the packets of powder and two cups before facing Keith.

Keith was currently shrugging of his clothes, first unzipping the red overcoat and then slipping off the tan jacket beneath it. His black gloves came off next, revealing the regular fingerless gloves. He kept the scarf on though, it loosely hanging around his neck. Shiro went over and tossed one end over his shoulder. Keith looped his fingers in his belt loops and tugged him closer.

“It’s warmer in here. Never make me go outside again.” He grumbled. He laughed in response, reaching to cup one of Keith’s cheeks with his hand. He hissed at him for it too, recoiling at the iciness of Shiro’s skin.

“If you’re not careful, you’ll start to sound as dramatic as Lance.” Keith rolled his eyes at him.

Leaning away when the milk was ready, he finished their drinks and handed one to Keith. Silently they took their drinks to the lounge, where they curled up together, Keith’s fit on the sofa. They sipped at the warm liquid and if he tried hard enough, Shiro was convinced he could hear the trio’s laughter from this far in the ship. When he said that aloud to Keith, he snorted at him.

He was still shivering slightly, despite no longer being outside, so he reached behind them and grabbed a blanket to drape over them. He set down his drink briefly to settle deeper into Shiro’s side. He handed it to him when Keith was done.

Taking a long sip of his own, he marveled at the quiet. Being in space, in a ship, with five others didn’t leave them with a lot of time alone. No matter how big the castle was, it always seemed as if they were in each other's pockets. He wasn’t complaining but sometimes it was tiring when you saw the same people everyday. People that you ate and trained and worked with. He was sure the others would like a break from him too now and then.

Now though they were alone, just him and Keith. Even the space mice were absent. Keith was next to him, warm and content and pleasantly lazy, relaxing in a way Shiro hadn’t seen in a long time. How long had it been since they weren’t fighting? Weren’t running and hitting and striking, just to stay alive? How long had it been since he looked at the stars and thought about how beautiful they are instead of how many had passed on their way to the next planet and how many of them were distant planets Zarkon had no doubt conquered? How long had it been since Keith just existed, not thinking about being strong and fast enough?

“How long do you think we’ve been up here?” He asked him, not looking away from the brown swirls of his cup. “In space I mean.”

He hummed. “Hard to tell really. Time’s different up here after all. Feels like months. Could’ve been years. I mean, who knows how far we are from earth. And we’ve done a lot of wormhole jumping and traveling through different zones. I don’t think we’ll really know until we get back.”

That was a difficult thought. He knows he had been in the gladiator rings for about a year from what the other’s told him about Kerberos. A year of Pidge looking for her family, screaming and lying and leaving everything for the truth, and Keith alone in the desert, chasing energies he didn’t understand.

Earth didn’t mean what it meant to the others to him. He didn’t have a family waiting for him, worrying over him, like the others did. Keith was his family and he was up here with him. He had no siblings like Lance who were worrying over where there brother was. No parents like Hunk who were dutifully looking at pictures of a son they had no explanation of his disappearance. He had no mother waiting for news on his mission, who knew they were fed lies and were waiting for the answers, like Pidge. 

He had Keith and when he was alone for that year it had been Keith he thought of back on earth. But Keith was with him now and there was nothing left for him on earth anymore. Still, he had come from there. Space had always been the destination and up here he felt more like himself than earth had ever given him but he still ached for the feeling of fresh air in his lungs and warm sand under his feet. He still ached for strong, warm whiskey and salty french fries that space just couldn’t mimic. He ached for a lot of things and though they seemed so trivial compared to the others, he still wanted them.

To think it could have been years since he last saw the blue skies of earth was insane. It left him feeling an empty hole in his chest.

He took another gulp of his drink, nearly finished with it. Keith was still taking slow sips of his own, content in dragging it out. “What do you miss most of home?”

He didn’t take long to answer, though the seconds that passed made it clear to him that he had to think about it. Lance’s answer would have been immediate, he thought. “I miss the grass.”

That surprised him. “Grass?”

Keith nodded, shifting his weight a little to see him better. Shiro turned his own body a little. “Mhm. I was in the desert for a while, after everything. It was where my home was, you know that. That’s where my bed was and my things and I know the shack should probably be my answer but if I’m being honest, that was just a place. I grew up in the desert and I went back there after leaving the home and when shit blew up, I went back again. But you’re my home and even in space, I can see sand and dirt and sure it’s not always the right color but it feels the same.”

He took another sip of his drink. “Grass though? I don’t think I’ve felt anything like it up here. There’s been similar things, sure. Some were the right color but too soft. Others were the same shape but bright purple. Nothing has felt right though and I don’t think anything will until we come back and I can step on it again.”

He finished off his drink and set it down, thinking. Keith was right, he realized. He hadn’t thought much about it. Shiro had always been one to look up and think of the sky and the clouds rather than what was below him, but he was right. He hadn’t felt anything quite like grass either. It was an odd thing to notice.

“What about you?” He asked in return. “What do you miss most?”   
Shiro thought about it. If Keith had asked him this question back then, when he had just arrived back from the Galra’s clutches, he thinks he would have said Keith. The sound of his laugh when he was just a bit too drunk, all giggly and high and touchy. The pitch of his voice when he just woke up, low and scratchy and a bit angry. The look in his eyes when he got on the hoverbike or in the pilot’s seat, wide and bright and eager to break everything, every record, every limit. He had missed Keith so much when he was gone. He had thought so many times that he would never get to see him again but here he was, drinking in his presence like a thirsty man with water.

“I miss coffee.” He whispered. “I know that sounds silly since we have Space Coffee but it’s not the same. It’s not the same smell or the same strength and it doesn’t even feel the same on my tongue. I miss handing you a cup whenever you wake up, grumpy and lifeless. I miss the way it always made you perk up. You loved the smell of it. I miss the way we would just sit on the counter in the shack, drinking that stuff all morning, saying nothing. I guess I miss those mornings more than coffee actually. I don’t know.” He shrugged self consciously, feeling the weight of Keith’s eyes on his face. “We can’t really have those mornings anymore.”   
Keith doesn’t try to argue that. They’ve never been big on PDA, always choosing to hide it away behind closed doors and keeping it minimal in front of everyone else. Shiro might sneak in a kiss every now and then, but they’d still be chase and when he thought no one was looking. They weren’t hiding it or ashamed. Nothing like that. It just always felt like their love was private, something only they could understand and appreciate. Something he didn’t want anyone else to taint or take away. He doesn’t want anyone to see Keith like that, and Keith does the same with him. No one deserves to see it.

No, instead he sets his cup down on the floor and pulls Shiro in, kissing him slow and deep. No one’s around, no one can see.

It warms him in a way the hot chocolate couldn’t and if the way Keith presses closer, he knows he feels the same warmth as him.


End file.
